


Middle Child Nonsense

by 1emubot



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Brotherly Angst, Brotherly Bonding, I tried so hard to make this less sad/angsty omg you have no idea, Running Away, The majority of it may be too much angst to put in a Secret Santa gift but, pls just like it ;w;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1emubot/pseuds/1emubot
Summary: Being a middle child is hard. Donnie knows that first hand.Yet he's always been able to put up with his brothers' annoying him, no matter how frustrated he gets- and that's something he takes pride in. Not losing his temper.But 14 years is a long time to live silently though, and the more he has to deal with the feelings of being the lenient, 'okay sure, I'll do what you want me to do because I don't have the energy to argue' brother, the more he just wants give up. Until one night when he finally does snap-AtMikeyof all people.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SwoopertheSwooper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoopertheSwooper/gifts).



> So uhh… welcome to my first ever full-length Rise fic I guess? This is a Secret Santa gift for my friend Swooper (@swoopermaddog on Twitter) and also probably one of the few fanfictions I’ve actually finished XD
> 
> Well uh, hope you enjoy !!
> 
> (pls I suck at titles)

The people of New York seemed to be stuck in their same, indifferent schedules every day. Waking up, eating breakfast, spending their day behind a desk then retiring back to their home to rest for the next 8 hours. Repeating that consistently for 5 out of the 7 days a week. Then they had a break for the remaining 2 in what humans called the ‘weekend’. Sure, most of it seemed boring, and none of his brothers understood  _ why _ he would want to sit in a hoodie in the middle of summer at the park, taking notes of one of the many species that detested their kind, when he could easily be skateboarding or eating pizza with them. But they didn’t see the citizens of the city like Donnie did. They just saw them as people which hadn’t been mutated to be half-human, half-animal, and were... ‘normal’. People who knew nothing of the other… beings that lived alongside them… secretly.

Yes, his species was known as freaks to them. They were nothing but mere fictional creatures to them. ‘Mutant’ became an insult among their kind, and one labelled with such a nickname was known to be what humans called a ‘laughing stock’.

But despite it all, Donnie would still do anything to be able to do what they did.

Go to work.

To  _ school. _

To  **learn.**

He knew most kids hated school, and would probably trade having to go there every weekday for staying home and playing video games for the entire 6 hours, then sneaking out at night to raid the candy store. But then again, no matter how much he wished he was, he wasn’t ‘normal’ like them.

All he craved was a proper education. Sure, multiple books covered the shelves on his side of the bedroom, and being able to memorise the entire A - E section of the dictionary was seen impressive for a 6 year old. He had encyclopedias instead of comics, and he’d been mastering algebra and calculus ever since he’d turned 5.

But for some reason, it never felt like it was enough. 

With a sigh Donnie leaned back onto the park bench, his eyes darting towards the playground, where a number of other children his age were messing around on the round-a-bout and see-saw. How he longed to be able to just walk over and play with them, without having to worry about them noticing his green skin, or being seen weird for wearing long sleeves during the middle of summer.

From the corner of his eye he could see a young girl with red glasses, dark hair and a yellow and green outfit sitting by herself away from the others. She seemed lonely- kicking a few pebbles here and there and staring into the distance. Strange.

Different.

Just as he was about to jot down a note about it, the girl looked over to notice him looking at her, and gave him a small wave and smile. Without even thinking Donnie returned the grin and wave, before realising what he was doing and lowering his hand and gaze to the ground. He wasn’t supposed to interact with humans. Not even ones that seemed nice.

“Hi Don!”

Donnie yelped at the sudden voice, nearly falling off the bench like his notebook had fallen from his grasp. He tried to steady himself by holding onto the wooden seat, keeping the pen between his fingers and shaking his head.

_ What the- _

“M-Mikey!”

Donnie gaped at his younger brother Mikey who stood in front of him, grinning widely at him with his wide, front-toothless smile. He had smiley face bandaids stuck on his knees and cheek, wearing a hoodie that mirrored his own- only his was orange. “Hi Don-Don!” He said, while Donnie cringed at the nickname. “Whatcha doing?”

“Uh… nothing.” Donnie dropped his pen to the ground next to his book, pushing it under the bench. Master Splinter had already told him not to spy on humans during the daytime- what if he got caught? They weren’t even allowed to go out during the night either,  _ that  _ was how overprotective their father was. And if he told Mikey there was no way his brother would be able to keep the secret- and of course if Splinter learnt that they were both out here in one of the most populated places in NYC...

“Wait.” Donnie frowned, furrowing his faux eyebrows. “Why are  _ you  _ out here?”

“Uhhh…” Mikey shrugged. “I dunno. I saw you coming out so I followed!” He grinned. “And it’s so cool out here! I already made a new friend-”

“You  _ what?”  _ Donnie’s eyes widened as so did his mouth, gaping open. “You- you talked to a  _ human?” _

“Mhm!” His brother pointed over to the girl with the glasses that had waved to him earlier. “Her name’s April, and she likes yellow! She could come and be in our family, right? Then we can have red, orange, yellow, blue and purple! The whole rainbow!”

“Okay, okay.” Donnie closed his eyes, trying to catch up. ”One, that’s not the whole rainbow Mikey, you’re missing green. And two, we’re not even supposed to be here! Do you know how hard it was for me to sneak out? And now you’ve followed me and made friends with a  _ human?  _ Do you know how much trouble-”

“Purple!  _ What did I say _ about going outside during the daytime? It’s dangerous!”

Donnie gulped at the voice, closing his eyes in fear.  _ ‘Screw it’. _

Slowly he turned around, kneeling on the bench while squinting to try to blur his vision. Unfortunately though, it didn’t work- and he was soon face to face with the  _ last  _ person he wanted to see right then.

Master Splinter.

“Uhhh…” Donnie quirked his lips into some sort of a fake smile, slowly lowering himself until he was only just peeking over the wooden backrest, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “You... told me not to go outside... because if we were spotted then, um, bad stuff will happen?”

“Yes!” Splinter sighed in exasperation. “How many times must I tell you that despite your curiosity, you shouldn’t go outside?  _ Must  _ you inspect humans like this? Can’t you just watch movies and take your notes then?”

“No!” Donnie shook his head furiously, as if even the idea of it hurt him. “I can’t take notes of movies, they’re  _ acting!  _ I need them to be themselves, be normal!”

“But you can’t just watch humans as they go through their everyday lives! Those movies and shows- they’re _made_ to be watched! Isn’t that enough for you?”

“I-”

But Donnie never got the chance to argue back.

Because that was when Splinter spotted Mikey.

_ “And you brought Orange with you?”  _ His father scowled disapprovingly, reaching forward to grab Donnie’s wrist tightly, almost dragging him off the bench. “I thought you were more responsible than this!”

“But I am!” Donnie whined, looking desperately over at his younger brother for help of any sort. But the boy in orange only shrugged sheepishly, stepping backwards slightly from the scene. ‘ _ Wow, way to back me up Michael.’ _

“Yet you deliberately disobeyed me,  _ and  _ brought out your younger brother out here too! Even Blue would know better than this!”

“What? You really think that  _ Leo  _ is more responsible than me?”

“Well at least he stays inside when he’s supposed to!” Splinter tugged on Donnie’s arm, forcing him to follow. Mikey slowly trailed behind them, staring at the ground whilst father and son continued to argue. “And he wouldn’t drag his brothers out into broad daylight, where it’s  _ dangerous!” _

“But I- I didn’t bring him-” The young boy’s voice faltered under Splinter’s piercing gaze, and eventually he let the tension in his wrist relax. There was no use in fighting. It wasn’t like their father would punish Mikey anyway- not when Donnie had been the one out here first and it was suddenly all ‘his fault’. He’d never gotten a chance to explain anything before, so why should he now?

“And you’re grounded.”

“What?”

Donnie groaned, trying once again to tug away from his father but failing. Desperately he turned back to see the bench where his notebook and pen still lay under- his eyes widening when he spotted the girl in the green jacket (April, was it?) picking it up and flipping through the pages.

“No!” He yelled, before slapping a hand over his mouth, then giving Splinter his most innocent face as he was glared at. But as his eyes darted back to April one more time, she wasn’t flicking through his book anymore. Instead, she was looking at their family strangely. No doubt she could tell they weren’t normal humans- or at the very least she must’ve thought them a  _ very  _ weird family. He sighed. So much for trying (or in this case hopelessly wanting) to be normal- and unnoticed.

His eyes then darted over to the playground one more time, at the group of laughing, carefree children. They were now busy pushing each other either on the swings or down the slide, and Donnie felt a pang in his heart as he realised that no matter how much he wanted, they were the type of children who he could never be like, nor be friends with.

He wished he could just be a normal kid.


	2. Chapter 2

Most teenagers his age would be _happy_ to be the one left in charge while all adults were out of the house. It gave them some sense of authority, and made them feel like they could do anything. But as for Donnie, being left in charge when both Splinter and Raph were out made him feel like he _couldn’t_ do anything. And that sometimes made him really hate being the second oldest out of his brothers. Because that meant he was now responsible for whatever it was Leo and Mikey were doing, and if he couldn’t put a stop to it, well, it would end up with _him_ being in trouble. Even if he hadn’t been doing anything wrong.

But it wasn’t like he could just go and put Leo in charge- that would most likely end with their home being blown up or lit on fire. And he had to take responsibility for his brothers, no matter how annoying they were. And that meant that for the next two hours he just had to hope that they would keep to themselves, not break any bones, stay out of trouble, and leave him alone to work.

Or in other words- do the absolute impossible.

_ ‘30 minutes in and they’ve been doing nothing but playing video games,’  _ he thought as he looked over his notes for the new program he’d been trying to code for the past few weeks.  _ ‘Maybe they really will keep to themselves tonight.’ _

“Hey, Donnie!”

_ ‘I spoke too soon.’ _

Resisting the urge to just bang his head over and over on the table, Donnie looked up and spun his chair around to see Mikey poking his head around the lab door. Trying not to sound, look, or act too frustrated at being interrupted, he motioned for his brother to come in the room- to which the other obediently obliged.

“Leo and I are going to have a skateboarding competition- you wanna join us?”

No. No, he did not want to join them in their skateboarding competition. All he wanted was to spend the evening completing the three top things on his to-do list, so he could actually sleep for once instead of staying up, finishing off things he could’ve done during the day if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“Well Michael, as much as I would  _ love  _ to participate in your.. competition,” he droned, trying to sound as genuine as possible. “I have some.. work that needs my immediate attention, and so I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline your offer and sit out.”

There. Now he was telling the truth without hurting Mikey’s feelings too much.

"Oh. Right.” Was he disappointed? Donnie couldn't tell. “Gotcha." Normally that would be the cue to leave- but instead of going back to Leo, Mikey just stood there, awkwardly lingering by Donnie’s desk. He tapped his fingers on a messy stack of blueprints and diagrams for new inventions, picking them up and rifling through them as he continued. “So uh… still… you gonna come out later then Don? 

It wasn’t as if Donnie didn’t like his brothers, he just- wasn’t the best at spending time with them sometimes. And at times like these when they wouldn’t just get the hint and keep pushing him.. it was a miracle he wouldn’t lose his temper.

“Mikey, I said no-”

“Yeah, I know, but uh, I thought you might want to come out in a bit.. We can have cheese and crackers?”

Donnie had to bite his lip to stop himself from retorting back with his sass, picking up a Science textbook that laid on his desk to try distract himself. Why was his brother pushing it so far? All he’d said he didn’t want to hang out with them currently- because he didn’t. Yet Mikey seemed so desperate to have him there too, even when he already had Leo. Why couldn’t he just hurry up and go skateboard so that Donnie could concentrate on his work?

“Michael. Tell me- what part of ‘No.’ do you not understand?” Donnie raised an eyebrow at his brother over his book. “It’s- it’s one word, it’s two letters, it’s one of the  _ simplest things in the universe-”  _ He inhaled deeply, trying to keep his temper. Trying to distract himself he scanned the words on the pages of his book, but found he couldn’t register any of it into his brain. Not with his brother standing in front of him, waiting with wide eyes. “I said no. I mean no. And I’m not coming out of my lab tonight, now or later. Alright?”

“But what about dinner-”

“Fine! I’ll come out for dinner!” He snapped suddenly, not being able to console himself. “But apart from that, I’m  _ not leaving  _ this room tonight Michael. Now just go and do whatever you want with Leo for goodness sake!”

“But you’re supposed to be in charge-”

That was when Donnie broke.

“AND I DON’T WANT TO BE IN CHARGE!” He yelled, probably loud enough for the people up on the streets of New York to hear it. But he didn’t care. It wasn’t as if they were going to come down to the sewers to investigate. “Right now, I don’t  _ care  _ about what you do, okay? So go do whatever you want! Skateboard, read comics, play video games, have a Jupiter Jim movie marathon, as long as you  _ leave me alone! _ You could run away tonight for all I care! Just please, get out of my lab!”

“But-”

“Do you want me to define what the words  _ ‘get out’  _ mean?” Donnie snarled, slamming his textbook close. His fingers gripped tightly onto the edges with such force, all while he tried to refrain from throwing it at Mikey. “It means, and I quote from my own, home-made encyclopedia, the  _ Donatellory _ , to _ ‘leave a place of confinement; to escape and make one’s way out of a certain specified area’. _ And that’s what I want you to do right now. I need you to get out. Of. My lab.”

“W-what?”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

“I said, GET. OUT!”

Mikey’s eyes widened in fear at the loud noise and he stepped back, swallowing. Everyone knew how sensitive the young boy could be- and he was someone who you would never want to upset. But it was too late now, and Donnie was much too riled up to even feel guilty.

He opened his mouth as if to say something back, but when his brother glared at him he shut it again. All he’d wanted was one night with his older brother- but that seemed like it had been too much to ask. Tears sprang to the corners of his eyes, but if Donnie saw them he didn’t say anything, instead turning away from him.

“O-okay…” Mikey gulped back the tears, rubbing at his eyes. “I’ll.. just go now.”

Then he ran out.

* * *

How on Earth did cameras work?

The adverts on TV made it look so simple- all you had to do was press one button and it took the photo. They’d never said you’d have to piece together a ‘tripod’ -whatever that was- steady it so it wouldn’t fall over, make sure it had enough film, look after the lens.. The list just went on.

Heck, even  _ Donnie  _ made it look so simple.

Sure his brother was a tech savvy scientist-slash-inventor-slash-genius… but they were twins! Shouldn’t he be able to do what his brother could as well? They practically shared the same brain, didn’t they?

Leo groaned as he consulted the instructions pamphlet for what felt like the millionth time, comparing his attempt to put together a tripod next to the diagram on the paper. “Attempt 62,” he muttered under his breath, inspecting the picture closely then tapping at… whatever he’d just built. It did look a bit like the instructions, he supposed- if you squinted.

And tilted your head to the side.

Then scrunched up the paper.

But hey, at long as it held up the camera, it was fine, wasn’t it?

“Yeah.” Leo shrugged to himself, proceeding to try to balance the said device onto the ‘contraption’ he’d just put together. Sure, it would probably be easier to just give up when none of this was going anywhere, and it wasn’t like he was being  _ forced  _ to use a camera- but what was the point of beating your brother in a skateboard contest if there was no photographic evidence to prove it?

Exactly. There was none.

As he struggled to position it in a way it wouldn’t fall, Leo heard footsteps coming up from behind- and a muttering under the breath that he could identify immediately.

“Hey! Mikey! What did Don say about joining us?” He called over at his brother, though he didn’t take his eyes or hands off the camera- he’d been saving up the past four months for it, and he wasn’t going to let all those painful chores and errands for his family be wasted because of carelessness. “He said no though, didn’t he? Should’ve guessed- the only way Donnie would ever leave his lab tonight is if the power went out.”

But Mikey didn’t reply.

And that was what made him turn his head to look at his brother.

“Hey, uh…” He frowned over at his sibling, not being able to ignore the fact that he practically had the words distressed and upset plastered over his expression. “You okay  _ hermando? _ What happened in there?”

When he didn’t get an answer, Leo sighed, letting go of the black Canon on its stand and starting to walk over. Mikey wasn’t one to just ignore a question- or any of his brothers. So if he was looking upset and wasn’t listening to him.. Well there was obviously something very wrong.

“Mikey? Hello?” Leo snapped his fingers in front of Mikey’s face, trying to get his attention. “You alright?”

“N-no,” he whispered, his voice low and quiet as he stared down with his gaze fixated on the floor. “D-Donnie, he…”

“He…?” Leo prompted, motioning with his hands for him to continue. And when he didn’t he reached to shake his shoulders gently- but was cut off when Mikey suddenly caught him off guard, launching the two into a stiff hug while he started to shake in his brother’s arms.

“He- he told me to get out,” he sobbed silently into Leo’s chest, closing his eyes and feeling the tears leak out the corners of his eyes. “To go away. He said I could- that I could even  _ run awa _ y and he wouldn’t care. Did he-” Mikey looked up at his blue cladded brother, his eyes glimmering with tears. “Did he mean it? Does he want me to leave?”

“What? No! Of course not Mikey.” Leo patted his brother’s head, eyeing the corridor that led to Donnie’s lab. He knew his twin could be harsh and blunt sometimes, but not even Donnie would get that mad at their youngest brother- right?

“Then why did he yell at me?”

Leo bit his lip as he tried to think of a reasonable answer, suddenly regretting not listening to Donnie last week when he’d been talking about.. science stuff. Hormones, cravings, growing up… teenagers having... swings?

“Well uh…” He racked his mind, looking down at his currently fragile sibling. “He- he’s a teenager, so he’s probably just going through those... mood... swing... things.” Was that right? “We just gotta be patient with him. You can do that, right?”

“So… he doesn’t hate me?”

“No! No way does Donnie hate you! He’s probably just… stressed, ya know?” Leo kneeled down slightly so he was level with his brother. “You know how he is. All about science and inventing and not giving a damn about anything else.” He chuckled lightly, going to wipe his brother’s tears with a gentle smile. “But you know he doesn’t mean any of what he said to you, right?”

But a half-hearted, hesitant “Mhm,” was the only answer he got back. And knowing Mikey, he probably didn’t believe anything he’d just told him. But there really wasn’t anything else to say, was there? That Donnie really loved them and would most likely come out to hang with them later? A lie like that may be easy to slip out and most likely put his brother’s mind to rest- but what would happen when Donnie didn’t come out later?

Boom.

Plan backfired.

Leo sighed, trying to give his brother one last reassuring smile. “Hey, I know you’re upset, but Splinter and Raph could be back any moment- and we still need to get that race done, remember?” He reached down to pick up the orange one of the three skateboards lying on the ground and passing it to Mikey- making sure to kick away the purple one while doing so.

“Now c’mon.” He motioned towards the skate ramp, placing a foot on his own blue skateboard. “I’ve been waiting all week to leave you in the  _ dust!” _


	3. Chapter 3

_ “He’s a teenager, he’s probably just going through those mood… swing… things.” _

_ “We just gotta be patient with him. You can do that, right?” _

_ “You know how he is. All about science and inventing and not giving a damn about anything else.” _

Leo’s words to Mikey echoed in his mind, making the already roiled up scientist clench his fists in frustration.

Sure, he shouldn’t have been eavesdropping on them, but so what? It didn’t give them permission to talk about him like that- as if he weren’t even there, as if he couldn’t have been listening. 

“I don’t need them looking out for me,” Donnie scowled, slumping into his chair and hearing the wheels on it squeak whilst it rolled backwards. “Why couldn’t he just  _ go?” _

And why did it even bother him so much?

Was it because he didn’t want his brothers being ‘patient’ for him? Because he saw himself as independent and higher than the two others- that he didn’t need them looking out for him because he was supposed to be the older, more mature one?

Or was it because seeing Leo reassure Mikey made him feel like a bad brother? A  _ worse  _ brother?

Was he really that irresponsible?

Donnie frowned down at the floor, feeling it all coil up inside of him- a mix of anger, frustration.. and whatever else. He’d never really been a feelings guy, but right then, as he sat in his chair, full of feelings he couldn’t explain, he suddenly wished he had listened to those Dr. Feelings lessons he’d been forced to sit through even after he’d fixed things up with Sheldon.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that to him, it felt as if Mikey got all the attention, while he was just brushed aside. That oh, of course Mikey was innocent, and he couldn’t do anything wrong. And of course no matter what the problem was or who had started it,  _ somehow  _ it was always. Donnie’s. fault.

The thought took him back to him as a young six year old, sitting at the park, watching the people of NYC going on with their daily lives, before getting interrupted by Mikey and then getting grounded by Splinter whilst his brother got off free. Followed by a memory of sitting at the breakfast table back as a four year old, trying to explain how he’d just figured out how to solve a two-sided rubix cube to his family, then being cut off as Mikey showed them how he could colour inside the lines. Fast forward even further to eight years old and having him and his new invention ignored alongside Mikey winning a local art contest… the list just went on and on. Ten years old and fixing the air conditioner on a hot summer day? Compared to Mikey’s new family portrait of them it was nothing. Thirteen and managing to sneak them all into the new arcade in town? Well of course Mikey’s disguises for them to wear during it were much more impressive.

And now he was at 14 and the sour feelings were coming back.

Donnie growled and threw a random pen across the room in frustration with no certain aim, groaning when he saw it hit the trash can and knock both it and it’s contents over. It seemed even his stationery had the audacity and ability to frustrate him to death.

He was suddenly snapped out of his trance as his phone started to vibrate in his pocket, and with an annoyed sigh he snatched it up, eyeing the Caller ID.

Leo.

What did his brothers want now? Did one of the wheels on a skateboard come off and need to be repaired? Did they want him to fix the lights? The TV? Sneak them into a late showing of Lout Jitsu in the cinemas?

He scoffed, his finger hovering over the Decline button… before rolling his eyes and tapping on Accept instead. He might as well hear them out- though there was a less than 0.01% chance that he would be getting an apology of some sort. Especially not when he’d just kicked his brother out in rage, leaving him crying.

Dammit, now he was making himself feel guilty.

“Donnie!” His brother’s loud voice emitted from his phone’s speaker, and he suddenly regretted picking up. “Donnie you’ve gotta- you’ve seen Mikey, right?”

He raised his eyebrows at Leo’s breathless tone. And not breathless as in ‘I’ve been skateboarding for the past half an hour and need some snacks, can you get me some?’, but breathless as in ‘there’s an emergency and you need to get out of your lab and help me.’

“Yeah. He was here before to ask me to skateboard with you guys, like 10 minutes ago, remember?” Donnie replied flatly, drumming his fingers on his notebook. If Leo was looking for Mikey, why didn’t he just call him? And.. why was he calling  _ him _ when they were both at home?

“Apart from that! Did he- did he go back to you? Is he in your lab? Donnie this is an emergency!”

Why was Leo even asking? Hadn’t they been racing on the skateboard ramp just a few minutes ago?

“No, he’s not in my lab.” Donnie rolled his eyes, deciding to play along to whatever it was his brother was trying. “Just call  _ him  _ if it’s that urgent Leo, and stop disturbing  _ me! _ Do you know how hard it is to work on S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N’s new update when you guys keep interrupting-”

“Your robot isn’t important right now Donnie! Mikey’s-”

“Just. Call. Him.”

“He won’t pick up!” Leo was sounding as desperate as ever, and for some reason, that made Donnie uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to his brother being so.. out-of-character. “You try if you want! Mikey’s not answering any of my calls, or replying to any of my texts!”

“Fi-i-i-ne. If it’ll get you off my back then I will.” Donnie opened his Messages as Leo kept ranting on, until eventually the scientist went to simply just mute his brother. “So annoying,” he muttered, then opened his conversation with Mikey.

**Hey Michael, where are you? Leo’s looking for you, and he won’t stop nagging ME** **about it.**

After a few seconds he felt something on his desk vibrate, making him frown in confusion. He hadn’t left any of his inventions under his stack of papers, had he?

He was about to stand up and look through his masses of notes and paper, when his eye caught something and he stopped. 

On the far right of his desk was the pile of blueprints Mikey had been looking at before. But no longer were they all over the place- his brother had grouped it into a neat stack just for him, all organised and neat. And underneath it was a small flat rectangular shaped screen, lighting up with a series of notifications.

And when he looked closer, he felt his stomach sink.

Mikey’s phone.

“Oh God.”

Donnie slowly closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. Then he could regret it, he unmuted his brother.

“Leo,” he said, trying his best not to sound too concerned. Mikey could’ve just left his phone in his lab… right? And- and maybe Mikey had just gone to the Mutant Pizza Place or something.

“Yeah?”

But Mikey knew not to leave the sewers on his own.

“Call Raph. Now.”

Never mind.

He was worried.

“I’ve tried, but the calls aren’t going through!” Leo was back to his whining again- only this time Donnie forced himself to listen through it. “I’ve called April and she’s gone out looking with Sunita, but she can’t stay out for long. Her parents think she’s out studying with her friends-”

“Wait.” Donnie swallowed, eyeing Mikey’s phone carefully, not daring to lean forward and touch it. “What do you mean  _ looking?” _

“Um well…” Donnie was sure he'd never heard the sound of Leo stutter, or ever be this worried before. “H-he’s…”

The voice of mixed emotions, of panic and concern. 

Why was that so familiar?

_ “Purple, where did Orange go? I thought you two were playing video games.” _

“You see... after we’d been skateboarding for about 5 minutes, Mikey said he wanted to have a small break, and asked me to get some snacks-”

_ “Hey Raph, what’s wrong? Why’s everyone so worried?” _

He’d been through all this before.

Just.

Where?

“-I thought it was weird since we’d barely done anything, but Mikey looked really down, so I did what he wanted. I got orange juice, and biscuits, and those weird fruit stick things Mikey likes, ya know?”

Then he realised.

_ “Mikey’s missing Don!” _

And somehow, Donnie knew what Leo was going to say before the thought or words even registered in his own mind.

Only…

Mikey wouldn’t be that stupid.

_ “Mikey! Where are you?” _

_ “D-Donnie?” _

“But when I got back, he was… gone.”

He wouldn’t do it.

Not again.

_ “Michael, why did you do that? Everyone was worried about you!” _

_ “B-because…” _

“Donnie, we gotta find him, he could have been kidnapped, taken hostage by the Foot Clan or something, he might even be in their custody right now…”

He started to tune out the rest of the words, desperately trying to come up with his own. To tell Leo the truth. To tell him that he knew what had happened to Mikey.

_ “You said I was… annoying you… I just wanted to make you feel better… so I-” _

Donnie’s mouth opened into an ‘O’ shape, but he couldn’t find the words to say it. To say anything.

To even just simply form the word ‘no’.

Because the memory itself already hurt.

_ “I ran away.” _

Donnie dropped his phone.


	4. Chapter 4

New York was raining, the city’s lights dimmed and darkness starting to slowly creep over the buildings.

He should’ve expected that.

Cliche move from the city.

The sky was clouded with rain clouds as you would expect, dark grey and stormy. There was no thunder or lightning, but with the cliche ‘weather’ twist that the city was already emitting there might as well have been. Maybe to make it more dramatic- you could never have something  _ too _ big, could you?

His phone may have cracked when he’d dropped it earlier, but he suddenly regretted not bringing it along- or not bringing _anything_ along really. He hadn’t even brought a torch with him, nor a backpack of supplies like any real smart person would. All he’d done was throw on a hoodie, scribble down a note that he’d instructed Sheldon to give Leo, then scrambled up the ladder out of the sewers as if his life depended on it.

And while his didn’t-

Mikey’s did.

Tears leaked lazily out of Donnie’s eyes, mingling with the sweat and rain rolling down his face. “Mikey?” he called tentatively. His hands started to shake by his sides (was it from the cold or from concern?) so he clenched them into fists instead, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “MIKEY!”

He continued to yell for his brother multiple times as he walked down the street, trying his best not to heave into sobs. Where was he even going? He had no idea where Mikey could, or would be- the arcade? The Mutant Pizza Place? Or was he just out wandering the streets, alone, cold.. and thinking he was hated by his brother?

How long he had been walking for Donnie had no idea- nor did he know where he was going and how long he was going to spend out here. Even though he wanted to find his brother, he couldn’t stay out here forever... and if it all ended into a dead end like it seemed to be then there was no point in him trying to solve something that had been donned unsolvable. Why else would it be called that?

He started to wring his cold hands, rubbing them together to conserve warmth. And that made him wonder- if he was this cold in this weather in a thick hoodie after being out for only about fifteen minutes, how would his brother feel when he’d been gone for at least half an hour?

That was what kept him going.

“MIKEY!” And suddenly he was even more desperate for his brother to come home. “MICHAEL! MICHELANGELO HAMATO! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, PLEASE! COME HOME!” His voice faltered as it cracked, his volume dropping to nothing more than a low whisper. “Please…. Come home….”

How could he have been so stupid to yell at Mikey? He _knew_ not to lose his temper, and he’d told himself _countless_ times that if he ever were to slip up that Mikey was the last one it would happen with.

Unfortunately, it seemed like he was wrong.

With an angry glare at the ground Donnie kicked a puddle, sending splashes of water everywhere and drenching the bottom half of his hoodie. ‘ _Stupid, stupid, stupid,’_ he thought, trying to stand in a position where he wouldn’t feel the cold clothing too much.

It didn’t work.

This made him scowl in even further frustration, the. stupidly without thinking, kicking the puddle once more with even greater force-

And slipped.

“Ow!” He groaned, mentally cursing to himself as he shook his now dripping hands. He sat on the wet pavement, looking down at himself in disgust- there was mud caked all over his feet and smudged into his hoodie, plus he was drenched inside out. The water started to seep into his clothing, making the soggy fabric stick onto his scales. At this point he was shivering, and if he stayed out in the rain any longer he was most likely going to get pneumonia. But he needed to find-

Then he saw it.

In the alley.

A flash of orange and green.

A familiar groan of frustration.

And a voice he’d never expected to want to hear more in his life.

“Ugh… it’s raining now?”

Donnie froze in place, his entire body numb. He blinked twice, hoping it wasn’t just the rain blurring his vision, and that the boy curled up inside his shell inside a flimsy, wet cardboard box in the alley wasn’t just his imagination. That he wasn’t just hallucinating from hunger and thirst and cold.

“Mikey,” he breathed, standing up slowly from the ground as his brother too slowly crawled out of his shell and stood to face him with an expressionless face. And Donnie suddenly felt a flood of different emotions he couldn’t explain- disbelief, confusion, relief… all flooding him with warmth. Mikey was here. And he was _alive._ “M-Mikey, you’re-”

“Hi Don.”

Donnie winced at the blunt response, almost as if he’d just been hit. But by now, he knew he deserved it. His brother had every right to be mad at him, to shun him and ignore him and treat him like absolute dirt- because that was what Donnie had done to get them into this mess in the first place.

“Mikey, I-” 

What was he even going to say? That he was sorry? Would that even mean anything anymore? And what did it even matter when the damage had already been done?

He’d told Mikey to go away. He’d practically _told him_ to run away. Again. And whether the intent behind those words had meant ‘run away’ or just to leave him alone didn’t seem to matter. Because either way, he’d made the same mistake all over again.

Donnie stood silently, feeling the tears start to rush to his eyes and a small sob escape of his mouth. And before he could stop himself he rushed towards Mikey, wrapping his arms around his brother in a tight hug.

He may not be a hugger normally, but by now, he’d realised.

He wasn’t normal.

Neither was anyone in his family.

In the _Donatellory_ , the word ‘normal’ was defined as _‘confirming to a certain state or standard; being usual, typical or expected.’_

But that wasn’t him. And no matter how hard he tried, he could never be just _‘normal’._ He was a mutant turtle, living in the sewers with his three brothers and rat dad. And that was okay.

Because despite not being ‘normal’, they were still family. So what if they were different? They still had all their own talents, things that whether they were human or mutant, separated them from others. But that wasn’t a bad thing- and being different was what would eventually be the thing that helped them to reach all their goals.

(Did that sound too cliche? Donnie was pretty sure he’d heard something like it in some sappy kids show Mikey used to watch as a kid).

And Mikey had _such_ talent. He deserved to be given appreciation- and not just because he was the youngest. He had the skill to pave his way to a brilliant future, and to achieve amazing things.

And for some reason, Donnie had only just realised it.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered in Mikey’s ear, feeling any annoyance or resentment towards him from before just... disappear. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, and for losing my temper when all you wanted was for me to hang out with you, and…” He took in a deep breath. “For being such a terrible brother.”

There.

He’d said it.

“It’s- it’s okay Don.” Mikey leant into the hug, closing his eyes as his backpack fell from his hands. “It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have kept pushing you. And..” he sniffled. “I’m sorry for running away.”

The rain beat down further, getting heavier the longer they stood there in the middle of the street.

Both of their hoods were flipped backwards, no longer covering their faces.

Tears and rain blurred the scientist’s eyes, his throat raw from all his yelling.

His entire body seemed weak and he had to fight to stay steady, while his stomach turned itself over in hunger from missing dinner.

But Donnie didn’t care.

“Hey, Donald?”

He’d found Mikey.

“Yeah Michael?”

And he wasn’t going to lose him.

“You’re not a terrible brother.”

Never again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO THIS WAS MEANT TO HAVE AN EPILOGUE-
> 
> but turns out that classes and time hate me, so I haven't had the time to finish it.. maybe one day I'll get it done someday? But for now it'll be marked as complete, because -even though I'm not that pleased with it- I guess this works as an okay ending too..?


End file.
